By Mary Jones 19th January 2021

The FSC BioLinks team are excited to announce 6 new free virtual talks (with more on the way).


Upcoming subjects are oyster restoration in the UK, beetles that are attracted to light, invertebrates in zoos, butterfly and moth defence mechanisms, invasive plant species in gardens and hedgehogs on roads. In addition, we’ve also added a second run of our new online training course: Discovering iRecord. The first run of the course filled up within a week so book early to avoid disappointment.

Discovering iRecord event banner

Discovering iRecord online training course

Our Discovering iRecord online course has proven so popular, we’ve added another run of the course starting mid-February…

Spaces are subsidised and available for £20 for this run of the course only (future course runs will be full price). Spaces are limited.

The course consists of four topics (delivered weekly) and is aimed at beginners:

REC101 Introduction to Biological Recording
REC102 Grid References & Submitting Records
REC103 Data Flow & iRecord Activities
REC104 Exploring & Downloading Data


Oyster Restoration in the UK: Restoring a Forgotten Ecosystem

Natural History Live by Celine Gamble on behalf of ZSL

Oysters are most commonly associated with a seafood restaurant on a plate, with a glass of champagne. However, our European native oyster provides us with a number of ecosystem services, such as cleaning our water and providing a home for other marine species. European native oysters have declined by over 95% over the past 150 years. During this presentation Celine will explore native oyster restoration efforts in the UK.


Moth Trap Intruders: Beetles attracted to light

Natural History Live by Dan Asaw

Here Dan explores the importance of recording, often overlooked, beetle bi-catch and some of the gems that can be found lurking at the bottom of the light traps of mothers. There will be both examples of commonly found species and some real highlights to look out for…

Book your FREE space here.


Invertebrates in Zoos: Working together for wildlife

Natural History Live by Caroline Howard

Zoos aren’t just about big fluffy mammals! As the name suggests, this talk will focus on invertebrates in U.K. zoos and aquariums. Find out about conservation projects saving spiders, events designed to highlight the importance of invertebrates and research into everything from UV to invertebrate euthanasia.


Hedgehogs on Roads: The Problems and Solutions

Natural History Live by Lauren Moore and Grace Johnson

Hedgehog roadkill is sadly a familiar site on roads here in the UK as well as Europe. Roads pose a major threat to hedgehogs, directly through mortality from collisions as well as indirectly through the resulting fragmented habitat. Here we explore the issues in more depth, and potential solutions.


Aspects of Defence Mechanisms in Lepidoptera

Natural History Live by Barry Henwood on behalf of British Entomological & Natural History Society

As caterpillars, butterflies and moths can be vulnerable to predation from a wide range of animals. Barry will explore some aspects of how moths and butterflies avoid predation during the larval stage, with a focus on camouflage and mimicry (including snake mimicry).


PlantAlert: Finding the Invasive Plants of the Future

Natural History Live by Katharina Dehnen-Schmutz & April Webb

Ornamental horticulture is the main source of alien plants in the British Flora. Insufficient resources are available to conduct risk assessments for all of the 70,000 ornamental plants on sale.  It is therefore vital to identify and manage those species that have a higher potential to become invasive, to prevent them negatively affecting natural biodiversity. Through citizen science PlantAlert aims to utilise those on the front line, gardeners, to highlight plants showing invasive tendencies before they jump the garden fence. Learn why this process is needed, how to get involved, and what we have found out so far. PlantAlert is a collaboration between and the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience at Coventry University and the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland.


Please note: FSC BioLinks courses and events are available at subsidised rates due to funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Field Studies Council